Divali is coming up! This year it’s on Saturday, October 17 (this Saturday). I am going to do the annual sale a bit differently this year and host the sale in my Etsy store. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Etsy, it is a fabulous website for handmade objects and objects related to making things. I find that it’s so easy to get lost in the pages and pages of fabulous things there. I have long wanted to get an Etsy store going, and have never really put in a concerted effort. All of that is changing this week. I have started listing Divali Sali items, and will continue to list them throughout the week. I’ll keep the sale going until things slow down, or until the sale items are gone. And then I’ll restock with new items for Fall and Winter! It’s always fun for me to clean out the jewelry box. I am a nester and a hoarder, though I fight the hoarding part. And it feels so good to let go of the stash. It always makes mental room for new creative endeavors. Here is the banner I’ve created for this year’s Divali Sale:Take a peek now, take a peek tomorrow, take a peek later in the week. The offerings will grow as the days pass, and I think you’ll be pleased with what I’ve got to offer!

I’ve been going in a direction lately that feels a bit strange to my soul, but it’s the right direction. This I know. I’m being drawn forward, like a moth towards the flame, to something that I only understand in its periphery. To say I have scratched the surface is being liberal. I am making realizations, finding truths, opening doors, and hearing sounds that are ancient and true, and far from what I have ever consciously known. And I’m fascinated. I know this all seems very vague, very foreign, not what you usually find at this blog. But please bear with me, we are going in a good direction.
One of the things that has inspired me today is this video of a Sufi song, from the film Jodhaa Akbar.
I haven’t seen the film yet, but the music will guarantee that I do soon. It’s about Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, the greatest Mogul Emperor, and his journey that was intended to be political and religious, but turns out to be about finding true love in Princess Jodhaa. Sufiism is a faith that has often intrigued me. The art and the artistic expressions of Sufi poets and musicians is very alluring and magnetic for me. It is, after-all, known as the mystical dimension of Islam. There is something ancient and innate to humankind in this song. Though I can’t understand the lyrics, I relate to the emotions in my soul. The gist of it is in reaching out to the Divine in this life, not in waiting for the judgement at the end. This song is like a soundtrack to my life right now. I can’t quite explain how, but it’s about moving in a direction that is innate to the soul, in being open to the messages that the world is sending, and in accepting and embracing the truths of those who have come before me.

Shirley Maclaine, in her book The Camino, wrote, “when the journey of the soul is recognized, a restabilization of the emotions takes place.” That’s what’s happening here. Stay tuned to see where I go!